Timeline History

Third Battle of Panipat

The Third Battle of Panipat took place on January 14, 1761 at Panipat (Haryana State, India) about 80 miles (130 km) north of Delhi, between the Maratha forces of north-western India aiding their allies, the Mughals, and Afghan forces under Ahmad Shah Abdali. It is believed that nearly 100,000 people either died or were injured on both sides in the one-day battle, though some historians estimate the total to be nearer to 60,000.
The battle pitted the French-supplied and trained artillery of the Marathas against the famous light cavalry of the Afghans. The matchup would have been rather one sided in favour of the Marathas had not their own cavalry decided to charge prematurely leading to their defeat. Both forces were so heavily attritted that the Mughal Empire fell, the expansion of the Maratha's power ended, and Ahmad Shah's Durrani Empire suffered continual attacks by the growing Sikh power and eventually retired to the north of Kandahar. The Marathas had also pursued his fleeing army right up to Attock at the foothills of Afghanistan in 1756 under Raghobadada.